The FastDay Forum

There is a dieting forum I occasionally look at these days - obviously I tried to follow this strict calorie-counting, weighing and measuring regime - and I am here with 5:2!!


A quote from a recent post:

"Everyone yesterday (4th July) wanted me to eat something or have a drink with them. I told everyone I was on a diet and that I had already eaten . . everyone started making excuses for me, "come on its the 4th, its 90 degrees, you gotta have a cold beer, one cupcake won't hurt , you're doing so good so reward yourself" .... no, no, no,& NO... I said no a lot yesterday, . . . . . . I feel right now that I am winning...STAY STRONG MY FRIENDS, AND THE REWARD WILL BE GREAT."

made me feel sad and sorry for the person writing it and everyone else who agreed and said hear, hear!!!!

What a way to live your life - not for us here with 5:2. Can't believe that was once me, but not anymore. Enough said.

[Betsysgr8]

5:2 ! Never on a diet again.

Always bothered me why people concern themselves with what other people eat. If you eat to much there is something said and if you eat to little something is said. What is great about 5:2 is that we can enjoy these special days/or not and still like ourselves.

Yes. I went out last night and a friend who is on slimming world was berating herself for all the calories she had eaten

I felt bad for her as I fasted Monday ( on 6.1 now as reached goal lost 22lb)
I ate what I liked last night with no guilt.

However when 5.2 came up it was dismissed as not for them

Sad as it's truly the easiest weight loss program I've ever done

The folks on Nutrisystem (food delivery) and Slimming World, etc. seem to agonize about one meal out in a restaurant - what can they possibly order to eat, should they maybe have one alcoholic drink? Maybe they should eat first and then just have water or tea?

Well, I had lots of water and tea yesterday (a fast day) but today I can have what I want - yippppeeee!!!!!!

Always bothered me why people concern themselves with what other people eat. If you eat to much there is something said and if you eat to little something is said. What is great about 5:2 is that we can enjoy these special days/or not and still like ourselves.

Yes this is a strange one. Why do people really push you to eat cake for instance after you have already politely refused - and when it is obvious that you have a weight problem. And in my case it is quite obvious. When it really gets too bad I say, in slightly jokey way "Do I look like a woman who needs more chocolate cake?" That tends to work.

I started this year off on a normal diet and told my friends that I wouldn't see them for 3 months as I was on a diet and couldn't go out hahaha needless to say that lasted 2 weeks. Now I go out, have fun, eat what I want, drink what I want and still lose weight. I am getting the inpatient feeling now though as I'm only 10lbs away from looking in the mirror and being happy with myself and I know my face changes then so haveing my picture taken won't be such a big "I must lift my chin up" moment

[Moogie]

I hate it when folks say I'm on a diet! When I'm out to dinner and ask for my wine as a spritzer my hubby's family sometimes come back with my drink and tell me they got soda water put in instead of lemonade, because I'm on a diet! Don't think they've got their head around the fact that I simply don't fare well on full strength wine so if I want a couple of glasses I have it weakened - nothing to do with calories or diets!

yes indeed - I have been one of those sad people who sat every night with a little tracker sheet writing down everything, totting up the points, working out how I could scrimp a few points tomorrow so I could 'afford' a glass of wine on Friday (which inevitably led to several more than one). I do still like to keep a note of what I'm eating, especially on fast days but now it's for planning/budgeting purposes, and to see if I have any particular trigger foods (unsurprisingly, eating things like fudge, chocolate and crisps can lead me to eat more... I'm not however afflicted by carbs in the way so many seem to be, thankfully).

The social aspect of food is a huge thing and not being able to join in with celebrations or have to have a modified 'diet' version of normal food is enough to drive anyone insane. It's probably what makes people stop - if you eat 'normally' on a social occasion, it's really hard to 'undo the damage' without fasting, and the fact that on a conventional diet you are always in a semi-restricted state, means that you are more likely to splurge on said social occasion. I know because it has been me. I don't really overeat in the same way any more - I do overeat but not to the same extent and I think my smaller appetite means that 'overeat' is a different thing altogether now.

Never EVER going back to that way of thinking, it only ever led to guilt and frustration.

"Never EVER going back to that way of thinking, it only ever led to guilt and frustration."

Here, here. As we British say. I'm in total agreement there.

I have been in tears before on most diets, it was one diet that put me on anti-depressants. At the time I didn't put 2 and 2 together and realise that it was the guilt and frustration and the feeling that "I was a failure at dieting and therefore must be a failure at life and marriage and what the hell did I think I was doing trying to bring up kids being the weak minded slob that I was". You get my drift. The right diet hadn't come along.

I have always thought that cold turkey would be easier than cutting down and restricting and thinking food all day every day and even dreaming of it. Yet all the medical advice was 3 meals a day, keep your blood sugar leval stable (yes keep it stable but at a low level, not a high level, unless you are running a marathon). I am so glad I found 5:2. I may have plateaued this week, but my carb cravings will come to an end (probably to do with my cycle) and the weight will start obeying gravity again. All the old diets I would have given up with the lack of control I've had today. But has it been a total lack of control, not really. I'm within 200 of my TDEE, I only ate 4 squares of chocolate instead of the whole bar, I only had a 1/3rd portion of dinner instead of a full plate. Lets just forget about the bottle of beer, O.K. make that 400kcal over TDEE.

All hail the 5:2 way of life.

I couldn't agree more with all that has been said here regarding conventional diets. They are ok for a few weeks/months if you are highly motivated, but you end up obsessing constantly about food, and can't lead a normal life, despite all the adverts trying to convince you that you can. 5:2 means a normal life most of the time